Multilobals

ABSTRACT

Binder, coating, and adhesive compositions having surprising film build, flow, leveling, and adhesive wet tack are provided by an aqueous dispersion comprising polymer particles having a central core surrounded by lobes. Also disclsoed are the uses and process of preparation of these unique particles.

We are aware that bumpy, lumpy, or "raspberry" like particles are sometimes present in conventional polymer dispersions in water. We are also aware that dispersions of conventional spherical particles sometimes aggregate to form clusters which tend to fuse into elliptical or dumbbell-shaped particles. Our multilobal dispersions are quite different in structure and behavior in binder, coating, or adhesive compositions. Structurally our multilobal particles have a central core surrounded by lobes, the lobes and core having different compositions. In preferred systems our core is swellable upon neutralization and has a difference in composition with the lobe composition defined by an interaction parameter, X_(C-L), greater than 0.05.

One profile group at Kobe University, led by Masayoshi Okubo, has published many articles over the last twelve years in the field of suspension and emulsion polymerization, and has been especially interested in what they refer to as anomalous and peculiar morphology. See for example Journal of Polymer Science: Polymer Letters Edition, Vol. 20, 45-51 (1982), and Vol. 19, 143 (1981). While some of the Kobe articles show what appear to be lobes, upon closer study we believe the Kobe group is growing hard second stage particles, e.g., styrene within a continuous soft first stage, e.g., butyl acrylate. Since butyl acrylate is transparent to an electron beam, transmission electron microscopy photos of unhardened particles show a bump internal morphology. However, the Kobe particles are actually spherical when viewed by optical microscopes or even by electron microscope after hardening the particles. Certainly the Kobe materials would not be useful as high film build coating binders or high wet tack adhesives. The Kobe materials are made by a method which is different in many regards from ours, and have a different morphology from our multilobals. Rather than having a central core surrounded by lobes, we believe the Kobe particles have a bump core surrounded by a spherical but transparent (to electron beam) shell.

Conventional dispersions generally need a thickener to produce binders, coatings, or adhesives with sufficient film build and ICI viscosity. Typical thickeners used in the art are hydroxyethyl cellulose and synthetic rheology modifiers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to reduce or eliminate the need of thickeners or rheology modifiers in film forming dispersion binders, coatings, and adhesives systems.

Another object of the invention is to provide dispersions of polymer particles for binders, coatings, and adhesives which have improved film build at a fixed solids level, or lower solids requirement at a fixed film build.

With respect to adhesives, an object is to provide improved wet tack.

An additional object is to provide dispersions for binders, coatings, and adhesives which are more efficient.

These objects, and others as will become apparent from the following description are achieved by the present invention which in one aspect is an aqueous dispersion comprising polymer particles having a central core surrounded by lobes, useful in binders, coating and adhesive compositions. Another aspect of the invention is use of such compositions in binders, coatings, or adhesives with improved film build at a fixed solids level or lower solids requirement at a fixed film build.

In another aspect the invention is the process of producing such compositions wherein a lobe-forming monomer system forms a polymer which is grown out on a central core particle where the weight ratio of lobe to core is greater than one.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a photograph showing the appearance under optical microscope on a dark field of a multilobal dispersion made in a accordance with the invention, prior to swelling.

FIG. 2 is a photograph of a multilobal dispersion made in accordance with the invention taken under optical microscope on a bright field.

FIG. 3 is a photograph of the appearance of multilobal dispersion made in accordance with the invention and neutralized with ammonia at 85° C. taken under optical microscope on a bright field.

FIG. 4 is the same as FIG. 1 except at a lower light intensity.

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 2 except with smaller particles.

FIG. 6 is a scanning electron microscope photo of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a comparative scanning electron microscope of a sample made in accordance with the Kobe articles.

FIG. 8 is a comparative photo showing the Kobe sample under optical microscope.

FIG. 9 is a comparative photo showing a standard spherical particle dispersion under optical microscope.

FIG. 10 is a comparative photo of the Kobe sample under transmission electron microscope, hardened and stained with octadiene/osmium solution.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The dispersions of the invention comprise polymer particles having a central core surrounded by lobes. These lobes are generally observable with an optical microscope, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. The lobes are also observable with electron microscopy and, as distinguished from the prior art, are observable by scanning electron microscopy after treatment with ruthenium tetraoxide.

The preferred particles comprise a central core polymer which swells upon neutralization. The appearance of the swollen particles can be seen in FIG. 3. The lobes are preferably polymerized from a lobe-forming monomer system which is different from the core monomer system. We prefer that the difference between the two monomer systems be such that they form polymers which have an interaction parameter, X_(C-L), with each other of greater than 0.05. The process preferably comprises using sufficient surfactant to maintain the lobe structure, and in the most preferred embodiments the surfactant is continually added during the addition of lobe-forming monomer(s).

A more detailed description of the central core, the formation of lobes, projected uses, particle size ranges, polymerization procedure, surfactants and surfactant concentration, and extensive exemplification thereof follows.

Central Core

The core is usually prepared first and may itself be grown out on a seed or preform which may be of a different composition and may be used primarily for control of particle size. The composition of the core is one of the main factors controlling lobe formation. Suitable core monomer systems preferably contain 5% or more of monoethylenically unsaturated monomers which contain one or more functional groups chosen from the following: carboxylic acid, carboxylic acid anhydride, hydroxyl, amide, hydroxyethyl, hydroxypropyl, dihydroxypropyl, hydroxybutyl, ureido, ethylene ureido, hydroxyamide, nitrile, methylolamide, glycidyl, cyanoethyl, N-(isobutoxy methyl)amido, diacetoneamido, N,N-dimethylamido, ethoxy ethyl, ethoxy ethoxy ethyl, furfuryl, aldehyde, phosphate, polyethyleneglycol, polypropylene glycol, sorbitol, glycerol, silane, and the like, with one or more nonionic or nonfunctional monomers. Preferred core monomer systems have about 20 to 50% carboxylic acid functional monomer(s), more preferably about 20 to 40%, and most preferably about 30 to 40% by weight.

Suitable carboxylic acid monomers include methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, acryloxy propionic acid, methacryloxypropionic acid, acryloxyacetic acid, methacryloxy acetic acid, and monomethyl acid itaconate.

Examples of nonionic or nonfunctional monomers are C₁ -C₁₈ acrylates or methacrylates, vinyl acetate and other vinyl esters, vinyl ethers, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, styrene, substituted styrenes, butadiene, and ethylene. With vinyl acetate, methyl acrylate and other monomers which are relatively water soluble but whose polymers are water insoluble but water plasticized, less than 5% functional monomer may be effective. Homopolymers of vinyl acetate, methyl acrylate and other similar monomers are themselves effective first stages in providing multilobal formation. Examples of similar monomers are methoxy methyl acrylate or methacrylate, cellosolve acrylate or methacrylate, carbitol acrylate or methacrylate, N-vinyl pyrrolidone, hydroxyethyl acrylate or methacrylate, and hydroxypropyl acrylate or methacrylate.

The core polymer system first stage may also contain a small amount of a polyethylenically unsaturated crosslinking monomer such as ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate, allyl methacrylate, 1,3-butanediol dimethacrylate, diethylene glycol dimethacrylate, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate, or divinylbenzene, in a proportion of 0.1% to 10%, preferably 0.1% to about 3% by weight, based on the first stage weight.

Water insoluble copolymers of nonionic monoethylenically unsaturated monomers with 1% or more of monoethyleneically unsaturated monomers containing a strong anionic functional group such as a sulfur oxy acid or a phosphorous oxy acid can also be used as the central core polymer. Examples of monomers containing such strong functional groups are: sodium allyl sulfonate sodium methallyl sulfonate, sodium styrene sulfonate, sodium vinyl sulfonate, sodium sulfoethyl methacrylate, phosphoethyl methacrylate, bis(methacryloxyethyl)phosphate, and also acrylate analogs of the methacrylates.

Formation and Composition of Lobes

The compositions of the core and lobe polymers must be different and relatively incompatible. It is preferred that the compositions vary to the extent that the interaction parameter, X_(C-L), be greater than about 0.05. (The X stands for chi.) The interaction parameter can be calculated for the lobe and core polymers by the method of Krause et al., J. Chem. Physics, 43, 2144 (1965). Appropriate values of the Hildebrand solubility values necessary for the calculation may be found in Van Krevelen, "Properties of Polymers," Elsevier Publishers (New York), 1976.

One or more monomers selected from the following are preferred for the lobe monomer system: butyl acrylate (BA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), ethyl acrylate (EA), 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate (2-EHA), styrene (S), vinyl acetate (VA), acrylic acid (AA), methacrylic acid (MAA), isobornyl methacrylate (IBMA), ethylene (E), vinyl chloride (VCL), acrylonitrile (AN), isobutyl acrylate (IBA), butadiene (Bd), p-methyl styrene (PMS), vinyl toluene (VT), and the like.

A central core to lobe weight ratio of about 1/2 to 1/500 is preferred. The core glass transition temperature, Tg, is preferably above about 5° C., more preferably above about 100° C.

Preparation of multilobal dispersions with large lobe fractions (>25) and at high solids level under the conditions of this invention occurs readily with, for example, copolymers of butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate with methyl methacrylate levels of about 60% or less (Tg of about 32° C. or less) or with copolymers of most of the other monomers listed of comparable Tg.

In some cases lobe monomer systems, e.g., BA/St, do not form lobes directly, but must be preceded by a composition which forms lobes readily. Examples are given in Table 2.

With some compositions, as with 10 BA/9 MM as second stage, lobes are seen early in the monomer feed (10%) but disappear at the 25% feedpoint.

Preparation of a multilobal with polystyrene lobes does not occur readily with small particle size (0.1 to 0.2 micron diameter) cores, but can be carried out readily with a 1 micron first stage of the same composition (Example 8). The preferred weight ratio of lobe polymer to core ranges from greater than 1/1 to about 200/1. Lobes are frequently observed forming at 10% to 25% into the polymerization process. Our efforts have been to prepare materials at high solids and maintain the lobe structure throughout the process.

A list of polymer compositions which may be useful in the multilobal context and projected uses is given in Table 3.

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         Lobe Composition                                                                                     Multilobal Content                                       Lobe Composition      or Multiplicity                                          ______________________________________                                         51.9 BA/46.8 MMA/1.3 AA                                                                              90% 4X, 10% 3X                                           46 BA/52.7 MMA/1.3 AA >85% multilobal                                          59.6 BA/39.1 MMA/1.3 AA                                                                              >85% multilobal                                          70 BA/28.7 MMA/12.3 AA                                                                               90% 2X                                                   80 BA/18 MMA/2 MAA    90% 2X                                                   49 EA/49 2-EHA/2 AA   80% multilobal                                           49 EA/29 BA/22 2-EHA/2 AA                                                                            50% multilobal                                           73 EA/25 2-EHA/2 AA   80% multilobal                                           39 EA/66 2-EHA/1 MAA  90% multilobal                                           50 BA/48.7 S/1.3 AA   Some 2X and 4X                                           95 BA/3.7 MMA/1.3 AA  Most 3X                                                  10 VA + 90 (60 BA/36.7 MMA/1.3 AA)                                                                   Several                                                  ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 2                                                          ______________________________________                                         Two Stage Lobe Compositions                                                                          Multilobal Content                                       Lobe Composition      or Multiplicity                                          ______________________________________                                         1.  20% (51.9 BA/46.8 MMA/1.3 AA) +                                                                      70% multilobal                                           80% (50 BA/48.75 S/1.3 AA)                                                 2.  20% (52 BA/46.7 MMA/1.3 AA) +                                                                        90% 3X                                                   80% (98 IBMA/2 AA)                                                         3.  20% (51.9 BA/46.8 MMA/1.3 AA) +                                                                      3X-4X                                                    80% (polystyrene)                                                          ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                         Multilobal Compositions and Projected Uses                                     Polymer                        Potential                                       Type     Polymers or Copolymers of                                                                            Use                                             ______________________________________                                         Soft     Butyl acrylate, isobutyl acrylate                                                                    Adhesives                                                2-ethylhexyl acrylate, ethyl                                                                         Caulks                                                   acrylate.             Roof                                                                           Mastics                                         Ambient  Butyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate,                                                                      Vehicles                                        Temperature                                                                             methyl acrylate, isobutyl                                                                            for clear                                       Film Formers                                                                            acrylate with methyl meth-                                                                           and/or                                                   acrylate, styrene, acrylonitrile,                                                                    pigmented                                                vinylacetate, vinyl chloride.                                                                        coatings.                                                Also copolymers of vinyl acetate                                               with vinyl chloride, ethylene.                                        Hard,    Copolymers of methyl methacrylate,                                                                   Coatings                                        Thermoplastic                                                                           butyl methacrylate, styrene,                                                                         which are                                       Film Formers                                                                            acrylonitrile; vinyl chloride                                                                        baked.                                                   with butyl acrylate or other                                                   plasticizing monomers.                                                Crosslinkable                                                                           Copolymers of the above com-                                                                         Curable                                         Film Formers                                                                            positions which in addition                                                                          coatings.                                                contain one or more functional                                                 groups which react upon heating or                                             catalysis or irradiation to                                                    crosslink the polymer.                                                Hard and/or                                                                             Polymers or copolymers of                                                                            Rubbers                                         Crosslinked                                                                             monomers with a single un-                                                                           fillers                                                  saturated group and also                                                                             spacers,                                                 monomers with multiple                                                                               extenders.                                               unsaturation as divinyl benzene                                                butadiene and butanediol                                                       dimethacrylate.                                                       ______________________________________                                    

Particle Size Ranges

The central core is preferably about 0.05 to 1.5 microns, more preferably about 0.05 to 1.0 microns. The final diameter of the multilobal particles is best described by the diameter a sphere of equivalent volume would have.

The useful particle size range is given below assuming core/final volume ratios to range from 1/1 to 1/200, although ratios up to 1/500 are useful.

    ______________________________________                                         Diameter, microns                                                                               Diameter Final, microns                                       Core             1/1       1/200                                               ______________________________________                                         .07              .088      0.41                                                1.0              1.26      5.86                                                ______________________________________                                    

With a larger particle size we generally use a smaller growout volume increase of 50×, thus for a 2.0 micron core we obtain a final spherical equivalent particle diameter of 7.4 microns. If the core is swellable upon neutralization, a substantial further increase in particle volume and diameter is obtained.

Multilobal Polymerization Procedure

A two stage gradual addition polymerization is preferred. The core is preferably formed first , and may be formed on a seed or preform used to control particle nucleation (thus number and size) which may be of different composition.

The core may be formed in situ, as a first stage in the process, or it may be made separately and added.

The polymers are preferably made by aqueous emulsion polymerization. Less preferred methods to prepare core polymer are by nonaqueous dispersion or precipitation polymerization or by conversion of an organic solvent solution polymer to an aqueous dispersion.

The lobes may be formed by starting gradual addition feed of the appropriate lobe-forming monomer system in the presence of sufficient surfactant and then continuing the feed either at the same but often at an increased rate of addition to completion. We have found it in some cases advantageous to add an initial small increment of monomer or monomer emulsion to the kettle charge and this has been substituted for in other cases by a small increment of nonpolymerizable organic solvent such as Texanol.

Any free radical initiator useful in emulsion polymerization may be suitable for multilobal formation. We prefer the use of redox initiator systems of a persulfate oxidizing agent along with a bisulfite or sulfoxylate formaldehyde reducing agent. We especially prefer the use of an initial increment of the redox couple or of a reducing agent alone prior to introducing lobe-forming monomer system, followed by gradual addition of the redox couple simultaneously with the monomer feed as polymerization proceeds. An addition of a small amount of transition metal salt as ferrous sulfate hepta hydrate is often beneficial. This initiation procedure is unusual and, in combination with the surfactant procedure, distinguishes many embodiments of this invention from prior processes. Some embodiments do not require this initiation procedure.

Examples of initiators are based on thermal decomposition of sodium and ammonium persulfate and on redox reaction of these persulfates and t-butyl hydroperoxide with sodium sulfoxylate formaldehyde and sodium bisulfite as reducing agents. Also suitable are benzoyl peroxide and 4,4'-azo bis(4 cyanovaleric acid) as sources of free radicals.

Polymerization temperatures of about 15° C. to 125° C. are suitable, preferably 60° C. to 85° C., and more preferably 75° C. to 85° C.

Surfactants and Surfactant Concentration

Anionic surfactants such as ammonium salt of sulfated nonylphenoxy poly(ethyleneoxy) ethanol (Alipal® CO-436), sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (Siponate DS-4®), and sodium dodecyl diphenyloxide disulfonate (Dowfax 2A-1®) are the most preferred.

Most other anionic surfactants which are useful in emulsion polymerization should be suitable for multilobal preparations. Nonionic surfactants in combination with anionics are also effective.

The preferred surfactant level is about 0.1% to 5% by weight on total monomer. For certain systems, about 0.4 to 0.7% is optimal. The use of sufficient surfactant to maintain the lobe structure during the process, preferably continually added during the addition of the lobe-forming monomer system, is most preferred.

In conventional multiple stage emulsion polymerization processes where it is desired to avoid initiation of additional particles with second stage addition, the skilled artisan minimizes the level of surfactant at the point of second stage monomer feed. Contrary to conventional practice, we increase the level of surfactant added with lobe-forming monomer to just below the level at which new particles are initiated. This increased level of surfactant, in combination with the initiation procedure and monomer compositions, causes lobe formation on the central core. Sufficient surfactant is added with the entire lobe-forming monomer feed to maintain the lobes until completion of the process.

Higher levels of surfactant are desirable for smaller particle size lobe initiation and maintenance. Polymerizable surfactants appear to be very effective in stabilizing lobe formation. Strong acid group containing monomers are effective in lobe stabilization and to replace conventional surfactant.

The following examples are presented to illustrate a few different embodiments of the invention, but the invention should not be considered as limited thereto.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Multilobal Paint Vehicles

A. Core Polymer

Reactor: 5 liter glass flask with stirrer, thermometer, nitrogen inlet, reflux condenser and heating mantle.

The reactor is charged with 2400 gm deionized water and 1.39 gm of the ammonium salt of sulfated nonylphenoxy poly(ethyleneoxy) ethanol (4 ethylene oxide) (Alipal® CO-436 brand) and heated to 85° C. while being flushed with nitrogen. An initial charge of monomer emulsion consisting of 34 gm deionized water, 0.32 Alipal CO-436, 52 g butyl acrylate, 46.6 g methyl methacrylate and 1.4 g methacrylic acid is added to the kettle followed by 5 g sodium persulfate dissolved in 50 g deionized water. This initial charge is allowed to react for fifteen minutes. Following this, a monomer emulsion consisting of 406 gm deionized water, 7.6 gm Alipal CO-436, 55 gm butyl acrylate, 604.9 gm methyl methacrylate, 440 gm methacrylic acid and 5.5 gm 1,3-butanediol dimethacrylate is added over a period of three hours at 85° C. After completion of monomer feed the charge is held at 85° C. for one-half hour and then cooled to room temperature. It is then filtered to remove coagulum. The final dispersion is 30.0% solids, has a pH of 2-3 and an average particle diameter of 150 nanometers as determined by Nanosizer™ particle size analyzer (Coulter Electronics Ltd.).

B. Lobes

To a reactor like the one used in part A of this example is charged 600 g deionized water and the kettle charge is heated to 80° C. while being flushed with nitrogen. When the temperature has leveled off at 80° C. an initial catalyst system consisting of 1.5 gm 1% FeSO₄.7H₂ O solution, 10.5 gm of 4.2% sodium persulfate solution and 10.5 g of 4.2% sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate solution in water is added. Almost immediately following, 118.3 gm of the core dispersion from part A is added. Following this, a monomer emulsion consisting of 351 gm. deionized water, 29.0 gm Alipal CO-436, 896.5 gm butyl acrylate, 875.5 gm methyl methacrylate and 17.9 gm acrylic acid is added over a 2 hour 25 minute period. Concurrently, solutions of 4.1 gm sodium persulfate and 1.7 gm t-butyl hydroperoxide in 165 gm deionized water and 3.4 gm sodium bisulfite in 165 gm deionized water are fed to the kettle. The temperature is maintained at 80° C. After completion of the feeds the product is cooled to room temperature. 0.82 Gm t-butyl hydroperoxide in 7 gm deionized water and 0.4 gm sodium hydrosulfite in 12 gm deionized water are added during the cooling period. The product is at 56% solids and pH 2.0. The particle diameter, calculated for a spherical dispersion product, should be 0.56 microns. Upon optical microscope examination, the actual particles of this product (especially after neutralization with NH₄ OH to pH 9.0) appear not to be spherical but to have two or more lobes per particle and are thus "multilobal." The multilobal is larger in appearance than a spherical particle dispersion of 0.56 micron diameter.

C. Paint

The product of part B of this example is made into a paint (40 pigment volume concentration and 40% volume solids) and compared in the formulation shown below to a typical commercial high film build acrylic exterior paint vehicle. The product of part B (3 parts) was blended with one part of the small particle size conventional, spherical particles produced in Example 11, infra, and compared in the same paint formulation.

                  TABLE 4                                                          ______________________________________                                                       24 hr. Equilibrated Paint Properties                             Polymer Dispersion                                                                             pH        ICI.sup.1                                                                               Build.sup.2                                 ______________________________________                                         Comparative     9.2       1.30     13.3                                        Invention (blend)                                                                              8.9       1.45     14.2                                        Invention (multilobal alone)                                                                   --        1.65     --                                          ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 Viscosity at high shear (10,000 reciprocal seconds) in poise as         measured by a cone and plate viscometer developed by Imperial Chemical         Industries.                                                                    .sup.2 Film build in grams wet paint per square foot.                    

                  TABLE 5                                                          ______________________________________                                         Grind                lbs.                                                      ______________________________________                                         Water                94.8                                                      Pigment Dispersant (25% in H.sub.2 O)                                                               14.6                                                      Wetting Aid (alkaryl polyether)                                                                     2.5                                                       Defoamer             1.5                                                       Ethylene Glycol      25.1                                                      TiO.sub.2, Rutile    243.8                                                     Talc                 198.8                                                     ______________________________________                                    

The above materials are ground on a Cowles Dissolver at 3800-4500 rpm for 200 minutes and let down at slower speed with the flowing:

    ______________________________________                                         Latex (50% solids)       448.6                                                 Defoamer                 1.0                                                   Preservative             1.0                                                   Coalescent.sup.1         11.2                                                  Propylene Glycol         34.1                                                  H.sub.2 O                11.2                                                  Hydroxyethyl Cellulose Solution (2.5% in H.sub.2 O)                                                     82.2                                                                           1170.4                                                ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 2,2,4trimethyl pentane diol1,3-monoisobutyrate.                   

EXAMPLE 2 Multilobal Paint Vehicle

Preparation of Multilobal Particle

To a reactor like the one used in part A of Example 1 is charged 500 g deionized water and the kettle charge is heated to 80° C. while being flushed with nitrogen. When the temperature has leveled off at 80° C. an initial catalyst system consisting of 1.5 g 1% FeSO₄.7H₂ O solution, 10.5 g of 4.2% sodium persulfate solution and 10.5 g of 4.2% sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate solution in water is added. Almost immediately following, 88.7 g of the core dispersion from part A of Example 1 is added. A monomer emulsion consisting of 300 g deionized water, 29 g Alipal CO-436, 896.5 g butyl acrylate, 878.5 g methyl methacrylate and 17.9 g acrylic acid is added over a 2 hour 35 minute period. Concurrently, a solution of 4.1 g sodium persulfate and 1.7 g t-butyl hydroperoxide in 165 g deionized water and 3.4 g sodium bisulfite in 165 g deionized water are fed to the kettle. The temperature is maintained at 80° C. After completion of the feeds the product is cooled to room temperature. A portion of the cofeed catalyst solution is added during the cooling stage to complete polymerization. The product is at 58.8% solids and pH 2.1. The calculated particle size of the product dispersion is 0.61 micron. By optical microscopic examination the particles of this dispersion appear as larger than expected for a 0.61 micron spherical dispersion and larger than the particles of Example 1, each particle being made up of two or more lobes with most of the particles having three lobes. When this product is made into a paint as in part C of Example 1 and compared to the standard paint vehicle, the paint with the vehicle of the invention gave an ICI of 3.7 compared to an ICI of 1.2 for the standard control.

EXAMPLE 3 Acid Content in Core Polymer

a. Preparation of Core of Hydrophilic Functional Copolymers on a Low Polarity Preform

Reactors: four 5 liter glass flasks with stirrer, thermometer, nitrogen inlet, reflux condenser and heating mantle.

The reactors are charged with 2080 gm deionized water and 3.2 gm Siponate DS-4 and heated to 82° C. while being flushed with nitrogen. An initial monomer charge of 6.9 gm butyl acrylate, 75.5 gm methyl methacrylate and 0.9 gm methacrylic acid is added to each reactor. This is followed immediately with 5.5 gm sodium persulfate in 30 gm water.

Monomer emulsions as described below are prepared for four copolymer compositions.

                  TABLE 6                                                          ______________________________________                                         Sample         3A-1     3A-2    3A-3   3A-4                                    MAA Level      10%      20%     30%    40%                                     Monomer Emulsion, grams                                                        Deionized H.sub.2 O                                                                           406      406     406    406                                     Siponate DS-4  16       16      16     16                                      Butyl Acrylate 55.6     55.6    55.6   55.6                                    Methyl Methacrylate                                                                           944.4    834.2   722.9  611.7                                   Methacrylic Acid                                                                              112.2    222.4   333.4  444.9                                   Butanediol Dimethacrylate                                                                     33.3     33.3    33.3   33.3                                    ______________________________________                                    

When the initial charge has reacted (about 10 minutes) feed of the second monomer emulsion is started at about 6 gm/minute. The temperature is maintained at 82° C. Thirty minutes into the reaction the feed rate is increased to about 14 gm/minute. When the monomer feed is completed the reaction is allowed to cool to room temperature.

Th solids level is 32.1% and the particle diameters are about 0.18 micron by Nanosizer.

b. Preparation of Lobes to Show Effect of Copolymer Acid Content

Reactors: 5 liter glass flasks with stirrer, thermometer, nitrogen inlet, reflux condenser and heating mantle.

Four emulsion polymerization preparations of second stage polymer on the cores generated in 3A-1, -2, -3 and -4 are carried out in the following manner. A monomer emulsion consisting of the following is prepared for each.

                  TABLE 7                                                          ______________________________________                                         Deionized water   600        gm.                                               Alipal CO-436     15         gm.                                               Butyl Acrylate    915        gm.                                               Methyl Methacrylate                                                                              826        gm.                                               Acrylic Acid      23.2       gm.                                               ______________________________________                                    

The reactors are charged with 500 gm deionized water and 44 gm each of the core dispersions 3A-1 to 3A-4. After flushing the reactor with nitrogen and with the reactor charge at 85° C. the following initial initiator solutions are added to each of the reactors.

                  TABLE 8                                                          ______________________________________                                         Sodium Persulfate    0.5 gm in 10 gm H.sub.2 O                                 Sodium Sulfoxylate Formaldehyde                                                                     0.5 gm in 10 gm H.sub.2 O                                 FeSO.sub.4.7 H.sub.2 O solution (0.1%)                                                              15 gm                                                     ______________________________________                                    

Cofeed initiator solutions have also been prepared for each.

                  TABLE 9                                                          ______________________________________                                         Sodium Persulfate 4.1 gm in 54 gm H.sub.2 O                                    Sodium Bisulfite  3.4 gm in 54 gm H.sub.2 O                                    ______________________________________                                    

Shortly after addition of the initial initiator solution slow feed of the monomer emulsion is begun. Feed of the cofeed catalyst solutions is also begun and programmed to continue during feed of the monomer emulsion. The temperature is maintained at 85° C. After 20 minutes the feed rate of the monomer emulsion is increased so as to complete feed in 165 minutes. After completion the dispersions are slowly cooled. The solids level of all the samples 3B-1 to 3B-4 is 58%.

Samples of the dispersions 3B-1 to 3B-4 are diluted to about 1% concentration with water and examined with an optical microscope using a visual magnification of 1000X. The following particle shapes are observed.

                  TABLE 10                                                         ______________________________________                                         Sample  Seed Acid Level Particle Shape                                         ______________________________________                                         3B-1    10%             Sphere (comparative)                                   3B-2    20%             Most spheres 10%                                                               doublets                                               3B-3    30%             Mostly triplets and                                                            quadruplets                                            3B-4    40%             Mostly triplets and                                                            quadruplets                                            ______________________________________                                    

The diameter of the spherical particles is about 0.88 micron. The diameter of each of the lobes of a triplet is about 0.61 micron.

Example 4 Multilobal Particle Dispersion and Blend

a.

Reactor: five liter glass flask equipped for emulsion polymerization.

A monomer emulsion consisting of the following is preapred.

    ______________________________________                                         Deionized Water   545         gm                                               Alipal Co-436     14.9        gm                                               Butyl Acrylate    914         gm                                               Methyl Methacrylate                                                                              826         gm                                               Acrylic Acid      23.4        gm                                               ______________________________________                                    

The reactor is charged with 600 gm deionized water and heated to 85° C. under a nitrogen atomosphere. An initial initiator charge of 20 ml 0.1% FeSO₄.7 H₂ O and 1 gm sodium sulfoxylate formaldehyde is added followed two minutes later by 46.6 gm core dispersion from part A-4 of Example 3 rinsed in with 10 ml water, followed by addition of cofeed initiator solutions, 5 gm ammonium persulfate in 62 gm water and 3.4 gm sodium bisulfite in 62 gm water. Initiator addition rate is adjusted so as to complete addition in about 4 hours. Within 10 minutes feed of the monomer emulsion at 5 gm/minute is begun. Thirty minutes after start of monomer emulsion feed an additional 7.5 gm Alipal CO-436 is added to the monomer emulsion and mixed well. In thirty more minutes monomer emulsion feed rate is increased to 15 gm/minutes. The reaction temperature is maintained at 80°-82° C. When the monomer emulsion feed is completed, the initiator solution is continued until finished. Temperature is held 22 minutes and then allowed to cool. The solids level of the dispersion is 55.7%. The particle size determined by nanosizer is 750 nanometers and the particles were observed to be multilobals with most having 3, 4 or 5 lobes.

The above dispersion and most of the other multilobal products of the various examples are relatively low viscosity at low pH as prepared. This dispersion viscosity is 50 cps. Under this condition sediment formation will be rapid. However, if this dispersion is neutralized to pH levels above 8.5 the viscosity, especially the high shear viscosity, would increase excessively.

To provide pourable dispersions at high pH and to reduce the tendency to sedimentation the multilobal is mixed, i.e., blended, with an equal amount, on a solids basis, of all acrylic, emulsion-produced, 60% solids, all spherical particle dispersion which had already been neutralized to a pH of 9.2 ("Standard Dispersion"). The resultant 57.3% solids mixture had a pH of 6.3 and a viscosity of 840 cps. This was adjusted with NH₄ OH to a pH of 9.0 and the viscosity increased to 1340 cps. Blending multilobal dispersion gave a dispersion blend which exhibits markedly improved film build in paints over the standard spherical dispersion alone.

b. Comparison in Paints

Paints were prepared of the product of this example and compared with paints made with a control vehicle and with the standard dispersion. These were in a 40 PVC, 38% VS formulation.

                  TABLE 11                                                         ______________________________________                                         Material         Paint ICI Paint Film Build                                    ______________________________________                                         Control Vehicle  1.35      9.9                                                 Standard Dispersion                                                                             0.80      8.3                                                 Multilobal of this Example                                                                      3.00      16.5                                                Blend 1 Part Multilobal of                                                                      1.53      10.6                                                this Example with 1 Part                                                       Standard Dispersion                                                            ______________________________________                                    

The control vehicle is an acrylic exterior paint vehicle which has good film build.

                  TABLE 12                                                         ______________________________________                                         Formulation, Flat Paint, 40 PVC, 38% VS.                                       Grind                      Lbs.                                                ______________________________________                                         Material                                                                       Hydroxyethyl Cellulose, 2.5% Solution in Water                                                            75.0                                                Pigment Dispersant (25% Solids)                                                                           11.3                                                Water                      60.0                                                Defoamer                   1.0                                                 Wetting Aid, Alkylaryl Polyether                                                                          2.4                                                 Ethylen Glycol             23.2                                                Titanium Dioxide, Rutile   234.4                                               Aluminum Silicate          171.6                                               Silicate                   5.0                                                 Letdown                                                                        Polymer Dispersion, as 52.5% Solids                                                                       405.9                                               Water                      15.0                                                Preservative               9.0                                                 Defoamer                   1.0                                                 Coalescent                 10.6                                                Propylene Glycol           32.4                                                Hydroxyethyl Cellulose, 2.5% Solution in Water                                                            87.1                                                ______________________________________                                    

Example 5 Multilobals with Different Core Polymers

A. Preparation of Core Dispersions of Hydrophilic Functional Copolymers

The equipment and procedure of Example 3A is used to prepare core dispersions on 6.7% of a low polarity preform of the following compositions:

                  TABLE 13                                                         ______________________________________                                         1.       5 BA/55 MMA/40 HEMA +                                                          3% butanediol dimethacrylate                                          2.       5 BA/75 MMA/20 HEMA +                                                          1% butanediol dimethacrylate                                          3.       5 BA/55 MMA/20 MAA/20 HEMA +                                                   1% butanediol dimethacrylate                                          4.       5 BA/65 MMA/20 MAA/10 AM +                                                     3% butanediol dimethacrylate                                          5.       5 BA/65 MMA/30 AA +                                                            3% butanediol dimethacrylate                                          ______________________________________                                    

Compositions of the appropriate monomer emulsion are as follows, weights are in grams.

                  TABLE 14                                                         ______________________________________                                                         1    2      3      4    5                                      ______________________________________                                         Deionized Water   406    406    406  406  406                                  Siponate DS-4     16     16     16   16   16                                   Butyl Acrylate (BA)                                                                              55.6   55.6   55.6 55.6 55.6                                 Methyl Methacrylate (MMA)                                                                        611.2  833.4  611.2                                                                               722.3                                                                               722.3                                Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate                                                                        444.5  222.2  222.4                                                                               --   --                                   (HEMA)                                                                         Acrylamide (AM)   --     --     --   111.1                                                                               --                                   Acrylic Acid (AA) --     --     --   --   333.4                                Methacrylic Acid (MAA)                                                                           --     --     222.4                                                                               222.4                                                                               --                                   Butanediol Dimethacrylate                                                                        33.3   11.1   11.1 33.3 33.3                                 ______________________________________                                    

The solids levels of the five dispersions thus prepared are all about 32.1% and the particle diameters are about 0.18 micron by Nanosizer.

B. Preparation of Second Stage Particles with Core Dispersions 5A-1 Through 5A-5

The same procedures and compositions used in 3B were carried out with 5A-1 through -5 as cores. The following results were obtained.

                  TABLE 15                                                         ______________________________________                                         Core          Particle Description                                             ______________________________________                                         5A-1          85% triplets and quadruplets                                     5A-2          most spheres                                                     5A-3          85% multilobes                                                   5A-4          95% multilobes                                                   5A-5          10% triplets, 40% doublets                                       ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 16                                                         ______________________________________                                         Comparison in Paints                                                                                I.C.I. Build                                              ______________________________________                                         1.   Control Vehicle (50% Solids)                                                                         1.25     10.0                                       2.   Standard Dispersion (59% Solids)                                                                     0.8      8.3                                        3.   Blend 1 Part Multilobal EX 5B Using                                                                  1.0      9.1                                             5A-1 1st Stage (55% Solids) With                                               1 Part Standard Dispersion                                                4.   Blend 1 Part Multilobal EX 5B Using                                                                  1.2      10.5                                            5A-3 1st Stage With 1 Part                                                     Standard Dispersion                                                       ______________________________________                                    

The paint formulations, control vehicle and standard dispersion are described in Example 4.

Example 6 Multilobal with Polyvinyl Acetate Seed

a. Preparation of Seed Polymer Dispersion

A two liter flask equipped with a stirrer, thermometer, reflux condenser and means for temperature control and nitrogen atmosphere is used. An initial charge of 397 gm deionized water and 0.24 gm sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate is heated to a temperature of 78° C. under a nitrogen atmosphere with stirring. A monomer emulsion is prepared from 196 gm deionized water, 0.22 gm sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, 208 gm butyl acrylate, 186.8 gm methylmethacrylate and 5.21 gm methacrylic acid. 20.8 gm of this monomer is added to the initial charge and then followed by 1.7 gm sodium persulfate dissolved in 10 gm water. Fifteen minutes later, a gradual feed of the monomer emulsion is begun and continued so as to be completed in 11/2 hours. The temperature is allowed to rise to 85° C. and maintained there. Fifteen minutes after monomer addition is complete the reaction mixture is cooled. 0.5 gm aqua ammonia is added to improve stability. The product is 40% solids and has a particle size of 0.15 micron by Nanosizer.

b.

Reactor: 2 liter glass flask with stirrer, thermometer, nitrogen inlet and reflux condenser.

The reactor is charged with 248 gm deionized water and heated to 70° C. while sweeping nitrogen through the flask. When the reactor temperature levels off at 70° C. the following are charged:

                  TABLE 17                                                         ______________________________________                                         0.4     ml 1% FeSO.sub.4.7H.sub.2 O solution                                   0.12    gm ammonium persulfate                                                 0.12    gm sodium sulfoxylate formaldehyde                                     14.7    gm of a 40% solids seed polymer dispersion as                                  prepared in 6A                                                         0.47    gm glacial acetic acid                                                 ______________________________________                                    

Approximately 11 gm water is used to rinse in the above where needed.

As soon as possible a feed of monomer emulsion A as described below is begun.

                  TABLE 18                                                         ______________________________________                                         Monomer Emulsion A                                                             ______________________________________                                         Deionized Water     26         gm                                              Triethanolamine salt of                                                                            0.65       gm                                              dodecylbenzene sulfonic                                                        acid, 60% active                                                               Octylphenoxy polyethylene                                                                          0.75       gm                                              oxy ethanol (70%)                                                              Sodium Acetate      0.09       gm                                              Vinyl Acetate       98.1       gm                                              ______________________________________                                    

Simultaneously, feeds of free radical initiating solutions, 1.12 gm ammonium persulfate nd 0.47 gm t-butyl hydroperoxide in 45 gm water and 0.94 gm sodium bisulfite in 46 gm water is begun and continued throughout the reaction. Feed monomer emulsion A over a period of thirty minutes while maintaining the temperature at 70° C. When A is completed, then feed monomer emulsion B over a period of 21/2 hours with the temperature at 75° C.

                  TABLE 19                                                         ______________________________________                                         Monomer Emulsion B                                                             ______________________________________                                         Deionized Water     102        gm                                              Triethanolamine salt of                                                                            2.6        gm                                              dodecylbenzene sulfonic                                                        acid, 60% active                                                               Octylphenoxy polyethylene                                                                          3.0        gm                                              oxy ethanol (70%)                                                              Sodium Acetate      0.38       gm                                              Vinyl Acetate       98.1       gm                                              Butyl Acrylate      157        gm                                              Methyl Methacrylte  137.4      gm                                              ______________________________________                                    

Adjust feed of the free radical initiators so that they continue for 20 minutes after monomer feed is completed. Upon completion of polymerization allow the product to cool to 50° C. and add the following:

0.22 gm t-butylhydroperoxide in 2 gm H₂ O followed by 0.11 gm Lykopon in 4 gm H₂ O. Cool another hour and add a neutralizer of 1.12 gm aqua ammonia.

The solids is 49.1% the particle diameter is about 0.55 micron and the particles are multilobal.

Example 7 Acrylic Multilobal with Polyvinyl Acetate Seed

a. Preparation of an Acrylic Multilobal on a Polyvinyl Acetate Central Core

Monomer emulsions 1 and 2 are prepared as follows:

    ______________________________________                                                          M.E. 1 M.E. 2                                                 ______________________________________                                         Deionized H.sub.2 O                                                                               45     gm    304.5  gm                                      Triethanolamine    1.2    gm    10.75  gm                                      salt of dodecylbenzene                                                         sulfonic acid, 60% active                                                      Octylphenoxy polyethylene                                                                         1.38   gm    12.44  gm                                      oxy ethanol (70%)                                                              Sodium Acetate     0.17   gm    1.55   gm                                      Vinyl Acetate      179.3  gm    --                                             Butyl Acrylate     --       839.1    gm                                        Methyl Methacrylate                                                                               --       753.6    gm                                        Acrylic Acid       --       21.0     gm                                        ______________________________________                                    

Catalyst solutions are 1.72 gm t-butyl hydroperoxide+4.09 gm ammonium persulfate in 166 gm deionized water and 3.43 gm sodium bisulfite in 168 gm deionized water.

In a five liter glass flask equipped for emulsion polymerization a charge of 895 gm deionized water and 53.8 gm of seed polymer dispersion from Example 6A is heated to 72° C. while stirring under a nitrogen atmosphere. 15 gm of a 0.1% FeSO₄.7 H₂ O aqueous solution, 0.44 gm ammonium persulfate in 10 gm water, 0.44 gm sodium sulfoxylate formaldehyde in 10 gm water and 1.72 gm acetic acid in 10 gm water are added. Three minutes after, addition of monomer emulsion 1 is started at a rate such that it will be completed in 20 minutes. Addition of the catalysts is carried out concurrently. The temperature is maintained at 70°-75° C. Upon completion of monomer emulsion 1 addition of monomer emulsion 2 is started and continued such that it will be completed in two hours and twenty minutes. Addition of the catalysts is continued. When addition of the monomer emulsion is completed addition of the cofeed catalyst 2 is continued til they are completed--about ten minutes more. The product is allowed to cool to 35° C. at which time it is neutralized with aqua ammonia. The solids level was 51.4%. Microscope observation showed the particles to be assymetric with a multilobal structure.

Example 8

a. Preparation of 1 Micron Core Polymer Dispersion

Reactor: five liter glass flask with stirrer, thermometer, nitrogen inlet, reflux condenser and heating mantle.

The reactor is charged with 2400 gm deionized water and heated to 85° C. while being flushed with nitrogen. An initial charge of monomer emulsion consisting of 12 gm deionized water, 0.058 gm nonylphenoxy (polyethyleneoxy), ethanol sulfate, ammonium salt, 5.2 gm butyl acrylate, 46.4 gm methyl methacrylate and 1.4 gm methacrylic acid is added to the kettle followed by 5 gm sodium persulfate dissolved in 50 gm deionized water. This initial charge is allowed to react for fifteen minutes and then a monomer emulsion consisting of 330 gm deionized water, 1.1 gm nonylphenoxy (polyethyleneoxy)₃ ethanol sulfate, ammonium salt, 55 gm butyl acrylate, 605 gm methyl methacrylate and 440 gm methacrylic acid is added over a period of three hours with the temperature maintained at 83° C. After completion, the charge is held at 83° C. for one half hour and then cooled to room temperature. It is filtered to remove any coagulum. The final dispersion is 31.8% solids, has a pH of about 2 and a particle diameter of 0.45 micron.

In similar equipment and under similar initial conditions 157 gm of the above product is added to a kettle charge of 2400 gm deionized water containing 2.5 gm sodium persulfate at 83° C. To this charge is gradually added a solution of 27.5 gm butyl acrylate, 302.5 gm methyl methacrylate and 220 gm methacrylic acid over a two hour period while keeping the temperature at 83° C. Upon completion of feed the reaction charge is stirred at 83° C. for a half hour and then cooled and filtered. The total solids is 18.4% and the particle size is about 1.0 micron, relatively monodisperse with only a few particles of a second small mode.

b. Preparation of Large Particle Size Polystyrene Multilobal

Reactor: 2 liter glass flask with stirrer, thermometer, nitrogen inlet, reflux condenser and heating mantle.

The flask is charged with 500 gm deionized ater an heated to 85° C. while stirring under a nitrogen atmosphere. After levelling at 85° C. 124 gm of the core dispersion from part A of this example is added. A monomer emulsion as follows has previously been prepared.

                  TABLE 20                                                         ______________________________________                                         Deionized Water  100 gm                                                        Alipal EP-110    2.0 gm                                                        Styrene          297 gm                                                        Allylmethacrylate                                                                               3.0 gm                                                        Benzoyl Peroxide 3.0 gm                                                        ______________________________________                                    

The monomer emulsion is fed slowly over a five hour period with the temperature maintained at 85° C. When the reaction is completed the solids level is found to be 21.3%. The particles are of about 2 micron diameter and have four to six or more lobes. When the dispersion is neutralized (after further dilution) and examined under a microscope, the particles are seen to be much enlarged with the lobes extended.

A portion of the above dispersion is further grown out as follows.

Using the same equipment, charge 500 gm deionized water and 281.7 gm of the above dispersion and heat to 85° C. A monomer emulsion is prepared as follows:

                  TABLE 21                                                         ______________________________________                                         Deionized Water  110 gm                                                        Alipal EP-110    1.6 gm                                                        Styrene          240 gm                                                        Benzoyl Peroxide 2.4 gm                                                        ______________________________________                                    

With the water-core dispersion at 85° C. under a nitrogen atmosphere the monomer emulsion is slowly fed over a two and one half hour period while maintaining slow agitation. At the end of this time about 1/2 of the monomer emulsion has been fed. Examination of a sample showed that the starting material has increased in size with growth of the lobes and very few new particles have formed with almost all of the growth occurring on the starting material. Monomer emulsion feed is continued for another hour to completion. The particles have further increased in size but some of the lobes have fused so that most of the particles have only two or three lobes. Solids of the final sample is 24.5%.

Example 9 Multilobal with an Acrylate Core

a. Preparation of Core with Acrylic Acid

Reactor: five liter glass flask with stirrer, thermometer, nitrogen, inlet, reflux condenser and heating mantle.

A monomer emulsion is prepared from the following ingredients.

                  TABLE 22                                                         ______________________________________                                         Deionized Water      242 gm                                                    Alipal CO-436       10.0 gm                                                    Butyl Acrylate      58.1 gm                                                    Methyl Acrylate     984.7 gm                                                   Acetic Acid          0.8 gm                                                    Sodium Vinyl Sulfonate (25%)                                                                       11.6 gm                                                    ______________________________________                                    

Sixty three grams of the above emulsion is removed and set aside for use as an initial charge. Then 116.2 gm acrylic acid is added to the above monomer emulsion and rendered homogeneous.

A kettle charge of 2250 gm deionized water is heated to 80° C. while stirring under nitrogen. The initial charge monomer emulsion (63 gm) is added to the kettle followed shortly by 0.6 gm acetic acid, 40 ml of 0.1% FeSO₄.7 H₂ O solution, 0.2 gm ammonium persulfate in 10 gm water. Ten minutes later slow feed of the monomer emulsion is begun and simultaneously feeds of 1.2 gm ammonium persulfate and 1.7 gm t-butylhydroperoxide in 45 ml water and of 1.9 gm sodium bisulfite in 74 ml water are begun. The feed rates are adjusted so the mnomer feed is completed in three hours and the cofeeds 15 minutes later. The dispersion is cooled and filtered. Sixteen gm wet gum is removed. Solids of the dispersion is 30%, pH is 2.5 and the particle diameter by Nanosizer is 154 nanometers.

b. Preparation of Multilobal with Acrylic Acid Functional Core

A two liter glass reactor suitable for emulsion polymerization is used. A monomer emulsion of the following is prepared.

                  TABLE 23                                                         ______________________________________                                         Deionized Water   140 gm                                                       Alipal CO-436      5.0 gm                                                      Butyl Acrylate    278 gm                                                       Methyl Methacrylate                                                                              274.3 gm                                                     Acrylic Acid      7.52 gm                                                      ______________________________________                                    

The reactor is charged with 219.5 gm deionized water and heated to 85° C. under nitrogen. 1.63 gm ammonium persulfate in 4 gm water is added followed by 29.4 gm of the core dispersion prepared in part A of this example. Slow feed of the monomer emulsion is begun and the feed rate adjusted so as to be completed in 210 minutes. After approximately 17% of the monomer emulsion has been added an additional 5 gm Alipal CO-436 and a solution of 0.8 gm aqua ammonia is added to he monomer emulsion and agitated until homogeneous. The temperature is maintained at between 80° C. and 85° C. After completion of the feed the dispersion is allowed to cool slowly and while cooling an increment of 0.1 gm t-butyl hydroperoxide in 3 gm water followed by 0.06 gm sodium sulfoxylate formaldehyde in 3 gm water are added. The solids level was 59%. Microscope observation showed the product to be of multilobal morphology with lobes of about 0.55 micron.

c. Effect of Surfactant and Initiator Distribution on Multilobal Formation

The procedure of part B of this example is repeated with these changes.

1. Only 0.58 gm Alipal CO-436 is added to the initial monomer emulsion.

2. 9.4 gm Alipal CO-436 is added to the monomer emulsion after 17% has been fed.

3. Only 0.47 gm ammonium persulfate is added to the reactor initially.

4. A solution of 1.1 gm ammonium persulfate in 60 gm water is added concurrently with the monomer emulsion feed.

The solids level of this dispersion was 59.4%. Microscope examination showed that the dispersion was mainly single spherical appearing particles with perhaps a few doublets. Particle diameter by Nanosizer was 600 nanometers. Changing the surfactant and initiator distribution greatly reduced or eliminated multilobal formation.

Example 10 (Comparative) Using Low Surfactant Level

The procedure of Example 3A-4 is used to prepare core particles and Example 3B, except using only 3 gm Alipal CO-436 surfactant, is used to prepare the dispersions. Only 25% of the particles are doublets, with the balance being spherical.

Example 11

a. Small Particle Emulsion Polymer

Reactor: five liter glass flask with stirrer, thermometer, nitrogen inlet, reflux condenser and heating mantle.

The flask is charged with 1350 gm deionized water and heated to 82° C. while stirring under nitrogen. A monomer emulsion is prepared as follows:

                  TABLE 24                                                         ______________________________________                                         Deionized Water   650 gm                                                       Alipal CO-436      3 gm                                                        Butyl Acrylate    704 gm                                                       Methyl Methacrylate                                                                              632 gm                                                       Acrylic Acid      17.6 gm                                                      ______________________________________                                    

With the reactor water temperature at 82° C., 241 gm Alipal CO-436, 4.2 gm sodium carbonate and 4.9 gm sodium persulfate are added to the reactor. With the reactor charge temperature at 82° feed of the monomer emulsion is begun at 3 gm/minute. Twenty minutes later the feed rate is increased to 6 gm/minute and again in twenty more minutes to 12 gm/minute. The temperature is maintained at 82° and the reaction is completed in 3 hours. The solids level is 41% and particle diameter is estimated to be 42 nanometers.

Example 12 Multilobal for Adhesive

a. Core Dispersion

The procedure of Example 1A but using the ingredients listed below is used to prepare a core polymer dispersion.

                  TABLE 25                                                         ______________________________________                                         Kettle Charge                                                                  Deionized Water       2400 gm                                                  Siponate DS-4         11.2 gm                                                  Sodium Persulfate      5.5 gm                                                  Initial Charge Monomer Emulsion                                                Deionized Water         28 gm                                                  Siponate DS-4          3.9 gm                                                  Butyl Acrylate         6.9 gm                                                  Methyl Methacrylate   75.5 gm                                                  Methacrylic Acid       0.9 gm                                                  Feed Monomer Emulsion                                                          Deionized Water        406 gm                                                  Siponate DS-4           16 gm                                                  Butyl Acrylate        55.6 gm                                                  Methyl Methacrylate    611 gm                                                  Methacrylic Acid      444.6 gm                                                 1,3-Butylene                                                                   dimethacrylate        33.3 gm                                                  ______________________________________                                    

The resultant solids level was 30.4% and the particle size was 107 nanometers.

b. Multilobal Preparation

The procedure and materials of Example 5B with the following charges are used to make a multilobal emulsion polymer.

Changes:

1. The following monomer emulsion is used.

Deionized water: 600 gm

Alipal CO-436: 46 gm

Butyl Acrylate: 1676.1 gm

Methyl Methacrylate: 65.3 gm

Acrylic Acid: 23.0 gm

2. For the central core use 85.3 gm of the 107 nanometer dispersion from part A of this example.

The final solids level was 55.0% and the particles were seen to be mostly triplets. Particle diameter was estimated to be 0.54 micron equivalent sphere basis.

This multilobal, either as is or diluted and neutralized, is useful as an adhesive.

Example 13

a. Multilobal with 80% Polystyrene Lobes

Reactor: A five liter glass flask equipped for emulsion polymerization. Two monomer emulsions consisting of the following are prepared.

                  TABLE 26                                                         ______________________________________                                         Monomer Emulsion A                                                             Deionized Water   120 gm                                                       Alipal CO-436      4.4 gm                                                      Butyl Acrylate    183 gm                                                       Methyl Methacrylate                                                                              165.2 gm                                                     Acrylic Acid       4.6 gm                                                      Monomer Emulsion B                                                             Deionized Water   540 gm                                                       Alipal CO-436     23.8 gm                                                      Styrene           1384 gm                                                      ______________________________________                                    

A charge of 1000 gm dionized water is heated to 82° C. under a nitrogen atmosphere. An initial initiator charge of 20 gm 0.1% FeSO₄.7H₂ O solution and 1.0 gm sodium sulfoxylate formaldehyde in 10 gm water are added to the charge followed by 42.8 gm of the dispersion from Example 3A-4. Addition of two initiator solutions (3.3 gm ammonium persulfate in 42 gm water and 2.3 gm sodium bisulfite in 42 gm water) is begun. Ten minutes later, feed of monomer emulsion A is begun at 5 gm/minute. Thirty minutes later the feed rate is increased to 15 gm/minute. The temperature is maintained at 82° C. When monomer emulsion A has been added feed of monomer emulsion B is begun at 5 gm/minute. The initiator solutions used for A are discontinued and addition of another initiator solution, 4.8 gm ammonium persulfate in 84 ml deionized water is begun. Ten minutes later the monomer emulsion feed is increased to 15 gm/minute and the temperature is increased to 85° C. Addition of this monomer emulsion is continued for 2 hours and 10 minutes more and at this time it is completed. Addition of initiator is continued for 20 minutes more at 85° C. Following this it is allowed to cool slowly while stirring.

Solids level is 47.5%.

Particle diameter--about 0.88 micron.

Particle geometry-->95% four lobes.

Example 14 0.50 Micron Multilobal

The following procedure of Example 3B but with the following materials is used to prepare a multilobal dispersion.

                  TABLE 27                                                         ______________________________________                                         Monomer Emulsion                                                               Deionized Water       523.6 gm                                                 Alipal CO-436         15.1 gm                                                  Acrylic Acid          23.3 gm                                                  Butyl Acrylate        930 gm                                                   Methyl Methacrylate   829 gm                                                   Kettle Water Charge   572 gm                                                   Initial Catalyst                                                               FeSO.sub.4.7 H.sub.2 O, 1% H.sub.2 O Solution                                                         20 gm                                                   Sodium Sulfoxylate Formaldehyde                                                                       20 gm                                                   Solution (5%)                                                                  Cofeed Catalyst                                                                Ammonium Persulfate    10 gm                                                   Water for Solutions   126 gm                                                   Sodium Bisulfite       6.8 gm                                                  Water for Solutions   126 gm                                                   Core from Example 12A 47.5 gm                                                  ______________________________________                                    

Proceed with the polymerization as in Example 3B with an initial monomer emulsion feed rate of 5 gm/minute. After 30 minutes of feed add 7.5 gm Alipal CO-436 in 25 gm water to the monomer emulsion and mix well. Following this increase monomer emulsion feed to 10 gm/minute and one hour later increase it to 15 gm/minute. The monomer feed should be completed in 245 minutes.

After cooling and filtering the solids level is 55.6% and the particle size is 0.50 microns spherical equivalent. The particles are about 60% triplets and quadruplets with about 30% doublets and the rest spheres.

Example 15 Comparative Spherical Partical Dispersions

Spherical polymer particle dispersions for comparative purposes were prepared by a procedure similar to that of Example 1B with the following changes.

                  TABLE 28                                                         ______________________________________                                         Monomer Emulsion                                                               Deionized Water    600 gm                                                      Alipal CO-436      3.35 gm                                                     Butyl Acrylate     1006.5 gm                                                   Methyl Methacrylate                                                                               908.6 gm                                                    Acrylic Acid       25.7 gm                                                     Kettle Water Charge                                                                               663 gm                                                      Initial Catalyst                                                               FeSO.sub.4.7 H.sub.2 O (1% Solution)                                                              1.5 gm                                                      Ammonium Persulfate                                                                               0.5 gm                                                      Sodium Bisulfite   0.5 gm                                                      Cofeed Catalyst                                                                Ammonium Persulfate/H.sub.2 O                                                                     5.5 gm/100 gm                                               Sodium Bisulfite/H.sub.2 O                                                                        3.8 gm/100 gm                                               ______________________________________                                    

To carry out the procedure the kettle water charge is heated to 60° C., a polymer seed is charged followed by the initial catalyst and subsequently by the monomer emulsion feed and catalyst cofeed. The reaction temperature is maintained at 60° C.

Three polymer dispersions are prepared with three different seed charges. The seed used is that which has been prepared in Example 6A.

                  TABLE 29                                                         ______________________________________                                         Final Dispersion                                                                              A       B      C                                                ______________________________________                                         Seed Charge      16.4      38.8   30.6                                         % Solids         55.8      55.9   55.2                                         Particle Diameter, microns                                                                      0.90      0.70   0.77                                         Viscosity, cps   70        60     60                                           ______________________________________                                    

Example 16 Comparison of Spherical and Multilobal Dispersions in a 40 PVC, 38% VS Paint

Various polymer dispersions are evaluated in the paint described in Example 4. As can be seen from Table 33, the multilobal dispersion provides higher paint ICI and better film build than conventional spherical dispersions.

                  TABLE 30                                                         ______________________________________                                         Polymer Dispersion                                                                               Paint ICI                                                                               Paint Film Build                                    ______________________________________                                         A. Spherical from Example 15B,                                                                   1.75     11.9                                                0.70 microns (comparative)                                                     B. Spherical from Example 15A,                                                                   1.80     13.2                                                0.90 microns (comparative)                                                     C. Multilobal product of                                                                         3.00     16.5                                                Example 4, volume equivalent                                                   to a 0.75 micron sphere                                                        ______________________________________                                     

I claim:
 1. An aqueous dispersion comprising multilobal polymer particles where said multilobal polymer particles comprise a polymeric central core and at least two polymeric lobes on said polymeric core, said lobe polymer being compositionally different from said core polymer, and where the weight ratio of lobe polymer to core polymer ranges from about 2 to 1 to about 500 to 1, and where said dispersion of said multilobal polymer particles is useful in binder, coating and adhesive compositions.
 2. Composition in accordance with claim 1 wherein the lobes are observable with an optical microscope.
 3. Composition in accordance with claim 1 wherein the lobes are observable via scanning electron microscopy after treatment with ruthenium tetraoxide.
 4. Composition in accordance with claim 1 wherein said central core is a polymer which swells upon neutralization.
 5. Composition in accordance with claim 4 wherein said central core is polymerized from a core monomer system comprised of carboxylic acid-functional unsaturated monomer.
 6. Composition in accordance with claim 5 wherein said carboxylic acid-functional unsaturated monomer is methacrylic acid or acrylic acid.
 7. Composition in accordance with claim 5 wherein said carboxylic acid-functional unsaturated monomer comprises about 1 to 100% of said core monomer system.
 8. Composition in accordance with claim 7 wherein said carboxylic acid-functional unsaturated monomer comprises about 20 to 50% of said core monomer system.
 9. Composition in accordance with claim 1 wherein said central core is polymerized from a monomer system comprised of monomer(s) which contain(s) functional groups.
 10. Composition in accordance with claim 1 wherein said central core is polymerized from a core monomer system, and said lobes are polymerized from a lobe-forming monomer system, the two resulting polymers having an interaction parameter, X_(C-L), with each other of greater than 0.05.
 11. Composition in accordance with claim 1 wherein said particles are produced by a process comprising forming the central core by polymerizing a core monomer system, and introducing and polymerizing a lobe-forming monomer system in the presence of sufficient surfactant to maintain the lobe structure during the process.
 12. Composition in accordance with claim 11 wherein said surfactant is continually added during the addition of lobe-forming monomer system.
 13. Composition in accordance with claim 11 wherein about 0.4 to about 0.7% by weight surfactant based on weight of lobe-forming monomer is used.
 14. Composition in accordance with claim 11 wherein said core monomer system comprises about 0.01 to about 10% by weight of crosslinking monomer.
 15. Composition in accordance with claim 14, wherein said crosslinking monomer is selected from ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, allyl methacrylate, 1,3-butanediol dimethacrylate, diethylene glycol dimethacrylate, trimethylopropane trimethacrylate, and divinylbenzene.
 16. Composition according to claim 1 wherein said lobes are attached to or associated with said central core.
 17. Composition according to claim 1 wherein said central core has a calculated glass transition temperature, Tg, above about 15° C.
 18. Composition in accordance with claim 17 wherein said Tg is above about 100° C.
 19. Composition in accordance with claim 1 wherein and said central core is about 0.05 to about 1.5 microns.
 20. Composition in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lobes are polymerized from a lobe-forming monomer system comprised of sytrene.
 21. Binder, coating, or adhesive composition comprising the aqueous dispersion composition of claim
 1. 22. Composition of claim 21 further including a conventional binder composition.
 23. A process of producing the composition of claim 1 wherein at least one lobe-forming monomer is grown out on the central core particle, the weight ratio of lobe to core polymers being from about 2 to 1 to about 500 to 1, comprising polymerizing the lobe-forming monomer in the presence of said core polymer, water and an effective amount of surfactant to maintain and stabilize the formation and growth of discrete polymeric lobes on said core throughout said polymerization while minimizing the formation of a significant amount of separate lobe polymer not on or associated with said core and minimizing the formation of a significant amount of core polymer encapsulated by a single spherical polymer.
 24. The process of claim 23 wherein said surfactant is continually added during the addition of the lobe forming monomer.
 25. The aqueous dispersion of claim 1 where said polymeric lobes are formed by emulsion polymerizing at least one lobe-forming monomer in the presence of said core polymer, water and an effective amount of surfactant to maintain and stabilize the formation and growth of discrete polymeric lobes on said core throughout said emulsion polymerization.
 26. The aqueous dispersion of claim 25 where said surfactant is utilized at a concentration sufficient to maintain and stabilize the formation and growth of said polymeric lobes on said core while minimizing the formation of a significant amount of separate lobe polymer not on said core and minimizing the formation of a significant amount of core polymer encapsulated by a single peripheral polymer.
 27. The aqueous dispersion of claim 1 where the concentration of multilobal polymer particles formed therein is at least ten percent by weight.
 28. Multilobal polymer particles comprising a polymeric core and at least two polymeric lobes on said polymeric core, where the lobe polymers and said core polymer are compositionally different and where the ratio of lobe polymer to core polymer ranges from about 2 to 1 to about 500 to 1 by weight.
 29. The multilobal polymer particles of claim 28 where said lobe polymers are formed on said core polymer by emulsion polymerizing at least one lobe forming monomer in the presence of said core polymer, water and a sufficient amount or surfactant to maintain and stabilize the polymeric lobes on said core while minimizing significant encapsulation of said core polymer by a single polymer shell and minimizing the formation of substantial lobe polymer particles not associated with said core polymer.
 30. The aqueous dispersion of multilobal polymer particles of claim 1 comprising a weight ratio of lobe polymer to core polymer in the range of from about 10 to 1 to about 500 to 1 and where the concentration of said multilobal polymer particles in said aqueous dispersion is at least 10 percent by weight. 